Magnum50

Getting a new Xbox 360 and having to "update' all my games, and re-download all my add-ons and packs got me thinking, and re-playing everything I have for the 360.


I was about a year late into the Xbox 360 thing (they were sold out for almost a full year), when I finally got one the first game I bought was GRAW (1), hated it... was new to console gaming so controls were hard, GRAW SP was a joke because of idiot AI teammates, and MP was so-so...so when GRAW2 came out, (I had gotten better with shooters with a gamepad by then), I reluctantly bought it, mainly because I was reviewing it for SimHQ.


Needless to say, since getting into console gaming (Xbox 360), and playing a number of great and not so great games...I've discovered that IMO, GRAW2 is the best damn Xbox 360 game to date...

Why?

With a fantastic and well done SP story, which introduced alot of new gear and equipment (remember this is a "futuristic shooter"), 15 MP maps included with every type of game mode you can imagine, including different (from the SP) co-op campaign missions, plus 4 map/mission packs which brings the game up to near 50 maps, the ability to edit and host missions the way you want, even giving achievements for "old school" play (without the overlay, without the tell tale signs of enemies, without the drone) and "perfect co-op" play... a fantastic and shining example of what a game should bring... the only downside to this plan is against the developers and publisher... and that is the lack of need for a quick follow up... GRAW2 is still a great game both SP and MP, and with so many maps/missions released, this game can and will last a long time...especially for the co-op crowd that I usually game with.


The only negatives to this game that I have found is the in-ability in MP to cover and peek around corners, (but it's in the SP)... other then that...IMO GRAW2 is the best damn Xbox 360 game released so far.


So what is your favorite released so far and why? (no betas or demos, already released titles only.)


BTW: My last day as a SM here at TG, it's been a pleasure, and a great 5 years with TG... time for me to move on, hope to still see some of you on XBL for an occasional game. Still will be doing our weekly XBL get together on Saturday's (Noon Eastern.)

Take care.

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www.gettacticaldammit.com

tHa_KhAn

Rainbow Six Vegas 2

The improvements over the original, while subtle are absolutely amazing. I attempted to play the original and I do think the story might be a little more engaging, the game play is lacking especially in COOP compared to the second. So for SP campaign love the story.

MP is just great. I love playing COOP with friends split screen or live. I have spent more hours with more friends with this game than any other console game. We find ourselves constantly finding an excuse to "shoot some terrorists." The Terrorist hunts are great with a group, but nothing really takes the play of moving through the campaign and using sound tactics. The endless fun is why I really enjoy the game.

On a technical note, the sound is phenomenal. I have a good surround setup with front speakers that are cabinet speakers with 12" drivers in them. Crank up the sound and it is a whole new experience as you can truly feel the ordinance going off.


My only disclaimer is that football is the true king of console games, so NCAA is probably my actual favorite, but that is year in and year out so R6V2 takes the cake for a non sports game.

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Magnum50

I would have disagreed with you KhAn, if it wasn't for the recent R6V2 patch...I hated TH before the patch, spawning right in front or behind you, or in areas you already cleared... but now with the latest patch (that came with those free maps), it is a 100 times better.

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Pfeil22

In terms of games suited for the Tactical Gamer community, I would say Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has been the best game I have played on the Xbox 360. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 is a close second and both are certainly worth playing on a regular basis. R6V2 and its close quarters co-operative play edges out GRAW2's larger infantry squad style. I believe Ubisoft did a great job with ACES and incorporating a ranking system, now a standard for shooters.

Overall, I have enjoyed Forza Motorsports 2 more than any other title. I've spent hours playing it and am still not even halfway through most of its content. The SimHQ Summer Series was fantastic and showed me just how great this game can be when played with friends.

Clodhopper

I would have to say GRAW2.

The multiplayer options, the co-op opportunities... the singleplayer, the AI and how it's all handled.... this is how to make a "tactical" shooter.

The multiplayer portion in itself (aside from the TrueRank system....) is just incredible. So many options, game modes and maps, I don't think any game can even come close to the multiplayer.

I really don't know what more to say... I'm not feeling very smart today, so I'll leave you guys with that incomprehensible babbl above!

PS
Magnum, you hit me up on live some time buddy, I may not be on all the time, or answer the invites with the accept button, but that don't mean I don't want to play with yous guys anymore!

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Nexon

Rainbow six Vegas 2 is probably the best game to the Xbox 360 so far.

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Exploding_Silver

THanks for being here for the 5 years, thats a lot longer than most

of the xbox games I have;
forza, FFOW, gears of war, fifa, GTA IV

all of them I can take or leave except GTA IV, which was fantastic

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chairlord

I think when you look at the really big games to appear on the console, you can probably narrow down to one for each genre.

Shooters; in my opinion COD4, yes it's not even remotely tactical, but I have a fairly intense but short attention span, and it's the only shooter that made me want to play solidly for months. Yes Bioshock is good, the best meeting of FPS and shooter since Half-Life for me, but as a pure shooter, COD4 takes it for me.

The reason? When I play online I never feel cheated. Don't get me wrong I get as irritated as the next guy, but I never feel the game is responsible, only my skill (or lack thereof).

As far as driving games, no other comes close to Forza 2 right now, on any system. Looks pristine, plays beautifully and pulls off that most difficult of tricks, a near perfect learning curve.

I'm going to stop now, because I really want to give this discussion the attention it deserves. I'd really like to come back and give you a full brief of why I think these games are the finest in their genre, and finally why I think none of them are the best game on the system.

This place withstanding, I get annoyed all the time with people's opinions. Well that's not true, I like those. But unqualified opinions really grind my gears so I think the least I should do is qualify my opinions. If I get time I'll tell you properly why I think COD 4 is the best in the next couple of days.

P.S. I'm not trying to be pretentious, it's just that on the whole TG is full of decent people who always give me time with their thoughts and help, so I think it's the least I should do in return, now, off to play COD 4.

tHa_KhAn

See, I was never a big TH guy. It might have been the random spawning that caused it, but I always chose COOP story split screen or Xbox Live. Maybe I'll give it a shot post patch.

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Basic1

i like lots of games

Gears of war

tomb raider new games

halo 3

cod series

GTA 4

graw

r6 vegas

BATTLEFIELD BAD COMPANY

rock band

bioshock



but i have to say my fave so far for tactical play is battlefield, cos i actually dont suck at it lol

people get too good at R6 , and graw, and gow and cod lol, but i liked them all .. also halo


yeah, lol.. later

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Gillespie

Hmm.

Armored Core 4 and Chromehounds.

Community's pretty active for the Armored Core series. Chromehounds didn't get the reception it deserved, unfortunately. The community is small, but still active on XBL.

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TheFeniX

Chromehounds ate up a lot of my time, but would have been my fav game by far if there was a little more work towards game balancing. When I left, the only true winning mech in free battle (or most team games) was a double-double. It didn't guarantee victory by any means, but a team of 4 running double-doubles almost always required a mirror counter. Commanders were so underutilized. It was the players that ruined the game though, so it's not really a mark against it in of itself.

"Best" is a very subjective term, but I would have to say Gears of War.

GoW didn't offer us anything really new. 3rd person shooters aren't new. Neither is a cover system. Aliens (or whatever) invade? Muscle bound weapon masters blow everything away? Small group of said warriors must save the world?

What GoW lacked in ingenuity, it made up for in implementation. The character interactions were excellent "We've got room for one more, it's a ****ing party down here." Yes, the characters were cookie-cutter, but they worked so well in their dynamic. You can actually care about these guys after a while. The combat system was fluid, no real gaffs to speak off. The game suffered no frame-rate issues. Cover wasn't optional, even on casual. It was integrated in both it's use and the necessity of using it. The game challenged you at numerous points. It wasn't just hold down the trigger till everyone stopped moving either.

Oh and chainsaw bayonets.

The game just clicked for me. I had no real complaints about anything and I can't wait for the sequel.

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Gillespie

Chromehounds was self-defeating. It didn't get a lot of sales, which led to crap support, which led to players leaving because of the "imba".

Fun is to be had, but it hurts to think how cool an experience it could've been.

Come to think of it, I really wish a new Mechwarrior game would be released on the PC. None of that MechAssault console BS, either. I had some incredible times with a clan in Mechwarrior 2, 3, and 4.

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Clodhopper

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tHa_KhAn

Did you ever play the original little known MechWarrior? Hence the first game that most people recall is MEchwarrior 2, but MechWarrior was an Innersphere RPG style mech game. You were a merc and could travel to the dozens and dozens of cities in the various Innersphere planets/kingdoms and depending the contracts(which you negotiated all parts) gained you faction, etc. The coolest element was your reputation. If you got lucky and met cool pilots in the bar you could get enough reputation that even though the enemy would have 8 Assault Mechs, they would immediately run and leave the battlefield if you showed up with 4 light mechs because of your rep. It was best Mechwarrior game if you remove graphics and the actual combat because, let's face it those mighty 386 and 486 machines just didn't quite have the horsepower modern machines do.

http://www.sarna.net/wiki/MechWarrior_I

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